Readings for Nov 5; All Saints Sunday
Here are the scripture readings for this upcoming Sunday.
Suggestion: Print this and read a different passage each day and think about it (some questions are offered to help stimulate your reflection).
You'll find your experience of worship on Sunday will be intensified.
If you would like to comment on these scriptures or have some on-line conversation about them, please "comments" button at the bottom.
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All Saints Sunday, Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary
Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 24
Revelation 21:1-6a
John 11:32-44
Isaiah 25:6-9
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a
feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food
filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he
will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all
peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will
swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the
tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take
away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said
on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that
he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let
us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
__________________
Can you imagine a day of deep peace and relaxation, when you can banquet at leisure and be freed of all worry and sadness?
What trust would it take to let yourself live that way right now??
_________________________________________________
Psalm 24
1 The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, *
the world and all who dwell therein.
2 For it is he who founded it upon the seas *
and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.
3 "Who can ascend the hill of the Lord?" *
and who can stand in his holy place?"
4 "Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, *
who have not pledged themselves to falsehood,
nor sworn by what is a fraud.
5 They shall receive a blessing from the Lord*
and a just reward from the God of their salvation."
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, *
of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
8 "Who is this King of glory?" *
"The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle."
9 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 "Who is he, this King of glory?"
"The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory."
_______________
How do you seek the face of the Lord?
Imagine feeling the entrance of God's glory coming now to you.
Can you live right now in this reality?
_________________________________________________
Revelation 21:1-6a
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I
saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with
them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will
be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will
be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for
the first things have passed away."
And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am
making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words
are trustworthy and true." Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
__________________
Sometimes people forget that all of the apocalyptic imagery of the Bible insists that God's future intention for us is God's reign on earth -- not earth's destruction and abandonment but earth's glorification. God is making all things new.
How can we participate in preparing for and hastening that work?
____________________________________________________
John 11:32-44
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet
and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would
not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came
with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and
deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to
him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said,
"See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who
opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a
cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away
the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,
"Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four
days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you
believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the
stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for
having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said
this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may
believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a
loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands
and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a
cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
________________
What habits, memories, addictions, regrets are buried deep inside the cave of your own being, covered over with heavy rock, decayed and foul smelling?
How would Jesus' cry of new life unbind you and let you go?
___________________________________________________
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The Rev. Lowell Grisham
posted by Lowell @ 10:40 AM
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